Friday, February 17, 2012

My friend who doesn't blog anymore Dave has given me plenty of good advice over the years but one of the big things that stuck with me was making your goals manageable. Its easy to say 'eat healthy' or 'get more exercise' but in order to make your goal more realistic and more manageable (and therefore more achievable) you should make your goals more specific. Instead of 'get more exercise' make your goal 'exercise three times a week for 30 minutes'. Now your goal is defined and you can feel good about doing it!

Using this method its easier to feel good about accomplishing it. If your goal is simply 'get more exercise' you will probably never feel like you are doing good enough. BUT with a defined goal you can exercise three times a week and accomplish exactly what you set out to do.

Here are my big picture goals -

1. - Learn more about web design. start by overhauling this blog.

2. - Buy a condo/home

3. - New car!

4. - Eat healthier

5. - Spend less money

6. - Keep the apartment tidy

7. - Go to bed earlier

8. - Drink more water

And here my specific goals so I can feel good about my accomplishments THIS week and be one step closer to my big picture goals.

- No buying lunch (4)(5)

- Contribute to an RRSP (2)

- Get off the internet at 10pm (7)

- Re-list my car for less money on craigslist, kijiji and autotrader (3)

- make at least one large dinner (probably pasta) that can be eaten for leftovers (4)(5)

- Spend 10 minutes in the morning cleaning the apartment (6)

- Go to the library for a book on webdesign/look for tutorials online (1)

- Look for a larger water bottle/cup for the office (8)

Do you have any goal setting tricks that help you? I would love to hear about them!

2 comments:

Aside from the condo and car goals, I have the same ones. I've been trying to not eat out, staying home on my days off to clean and organize rather than thrifting and shopping. I've rekindled a love for the library and have become a reading machine - which is also cheaper than buying books/shopping when I'm bored. As for sleep - I've been sticking to a no-screens rule for the 30-60 minutes before going to bed. (No tv, laptop, phone) I fall asleep easily and quicker than my bedtime. Also - in case you didn't know about it - there is a new consignment store near Queen and Bathurst called the Kind Exchange - you can sell them your clothes that you're not using anymore. I haven't brought mine down yet, but will soon.

Get that laptop out of your bed!!! I am an encyclopoedia of sleep hygeine knowledge. Ask me anything! And routine routine ROUTINE!

I do monthly goals. I don't know, it's easier to break it down to a month. So, save $50 towards summer camping trip, or finish one zine, go to Kingston. I dunno, for me, thinking in terms of MONTHS is easier. Plus, my planner is now a full-page month view. Game changer.